Disclaimer: I do not even own a cell phone yet. Fill in the rest.

Warnings: Slight shounen sap. Maybe not so slight. I do not know. I have lost all ability to measure such things.

Notes: I am addicted to WinMX. I can’t stop myself from downloading mp3s. ~.~() I must seek help. But I fear I won’t be able to begin the long road to recovery until I find all the FY CD book songs!!! Someone had them when I was here over Thanksgiving, I swear! But I can’t find them again!!!!! **goes insane** Anyhoo, hope you guys like this… and have fun! Thanks for reading. ^_^ Oh yeah, and I wrote almost the entire chapter longhand (**blink blink**) in the van on the way to my grandma’s house. ^_^ So any strangeness in style can be blamed on that fact. Hee hee.

Dedications: Woo-hoo!! Okay: the first section is dedicated to Red-chan, who thinks she’s Chichiri. ^_^ The rest is for Kaze-chan and Ryuen-sama, just because they’re cool and they’re good at description (whereas I’m a dialogue girl, or hadn’t you noticed?? ^_~), and they like Nuriko, so maybe they won’t mind the Nuriko-centric sappiness. ^_^ Kaze-chan, I hope you’re enjoying your Forster! (Way to go, Forster! Inter-class marriages! Hurrah!! Okay, I’m a nerd.) Ryuen-sama, I hope you’re enjoying your Nuriobsession as much as I am. ^_^ Monomania?? Mental help?? Pshaw!!!

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Taka still had classes to go to (with the faithful Miaka at his side for moral support), and Saihitei had to go back to his place. After making a quick trip across the street for a shower and a change of clothes, I popped back into Taka’s apartment (seemed like I should be a co-leaser, or something, for all the time I spent over there) to keep Houjun company. I was good at that: keeping people company. Good old companionable me.

"So," said Houjun, "what is there to do around here?"

I almost started laughing. Allenby College is possibly one of the least active places on the face of the earth. "Well, let me see," I said. "There’s a movie theater in the next town…which does us no good at all, since I’m carless and you drove here with Miaka. The mall’s pretty crappy…but it has a nice food court with a carousel. But that, too, is useless…"

"…Since we’re without transportation," he finished with a smile.

Nodding, I returned his grin. "In walking distance, we have…bars. About twelve of them. All practically right next to each other, too. And expensive coffee shops. And ooooh, a Colonial Pantry. That really reels in the tourists."

He chuckled, and we looked at each other passively.

Looked at the TV.

Looked at each other again.

"Jeopardy marathon?" he offered.

"Certainly," I agreed, grabbing the remote from Taka’s coffee table and flipping the TV to Channel 10. Pretty soon, the two of us were shouting out the answers to the questions…ahh…well, okay, I was shouting out the answers. Houjun was just stating them, fairly calmly.

Example:

Alex Trebec: "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" is a famous line stated by this Shakespearean king.

Me: (bouncing) Edward the Third! Edward the Third! Edward the Third! Edward the Third!

Contestant: Who was Henry the Fifth???

Me: (thinking I’m really smart) AHHA!!! NOPE!!!!

Alex Trebec: I’m sorry. The correct answer is…

Houjun: (quietly) Who is Richard the Third?

Alex Trebec: Who is Richard the Third!!

Me: ….Oh.

I’d almost forgotten that Houjun was a warrior guy, which was a good thing, I suppose, since I was supposed to keep it hidden from him. But every now and then it would strike me suddenly, and I’d have to force the thought from my mind so I wouldn’t stare. That and the association between Houjun and a mask, which I couldn’t even begin to explain.

Taka and Miaka got home around four, and I gathered my things to go have dinner in the dorm. The food wasn’t that great, but it was prepaid, and I didn’t have much money. As I bid everyone farewell and headed out the door, Miaka gave me such a huge smile that I was honestly scared for a while.

"Ahhhh….something wrong?" I inquired.

"Nope! Bye-bye!!" she said cheerfully, and shoved me out.

And sure enough, when I stepped outside the building, there was Saihitei, standing in front of a sleek black Acura with his arms folded across his chest. He was wearing the black trench coat he’d been wearing when he’d saved me from Chuin, blowing slightly in the wind along with his long brown hair. When he saw me, his face lit up, and my heart began pounding in my ears, and my knees got all liquidy, as if to remind me that, oh yeah! I loved this guy. In case I’d forgotten, or something. Good Lord. It’d only been about half a day since I’d seen him.

"It’s Friday night," he grinned as I stood in the doorway, afraid to move unless I fell on my face, or something. "We seem to be doing things a bit backwards, so I was wondering if you’d care for a first date."

~*~

The next few hours were like some scene stolen from a sappy (albeit slightly bizarre and other-worldly) romantic comedy. But I didn’t mind the sappiness, oddly enough. Sure, it was weird that it was happening to me. I never would’ve thought in a million years that a guy as nice and handsome and generally wonderful as Saihitei could possibly love someone like me.

He took me to dinner, as coincidence would have it, at the same Italian place I’d fled a few nights before. I was perturbed at first—and winced at the sight of the shattered glass window, now taped up and sealed with plywood, that I’d shoved Chuin into—but from the moment we sat down, it was different. Whereas Chuin was leering and ogling and more or less psychotic, Saihitei…well…wasn’t.

Okay, that’s it, I said firmly to myself. I am formally erasing the memory of my First Date Ever being with Chuin and replacing it with THIS.

Somewhere along the line, I asked Saihitei to tell me about my life as a Warrior Guy, and hinted that he could toss in some stuff about Gen-chan and the others, if he were so inclined.

"Oh, dear," he smiled. "The explanation begins. Well. I’ll do the best I can, but you must take into consideration the fact that I might not have everything exactly right, since I was held to the palace for most of the adventure." But he told the story as best he could: Miaka being sucked into another world somehow—"Auntie Em! Uncle Henry!"—and meeting Taka…or Tamahome, as I now very vaguely remembered…meeting her Celestial Warriors and battling with…

"YUI-CHAN?!" I exclaimed, rather too loudly. "YUI-CHAN got sucked in, too?? And they FOUGHT each other???!!"

"Oh," he said meekly, wincing the slightest bit at my outburst. "I…I forgot you didn’t know that part…"

"Do I know ANYONE in this life who wasn’t a part of this book???!!!"

"Fate has a way of…"

"Kouji!" I exclaimed happily. Yes! Kouji was safe.

Saihitei cleared his throat. "You mean…Tasuki’s friend Kouji, who took over the leadership of his group of bandits when Tasuki decided to follow his duties as a seishi?"

Ehhhh???…Dammit. "Shouka, then," I tried again.

"Mitsukake’s fiancée, who died and was possessed by a…"

"Doulin! Lanva!"

"Byakko no Shichiseishi, if I have their real names right from Taka…Subaru and Tokaki."

"K-kaen?"

"Oh, yes, her…I’ve never encountered her, but Taka claims she’s Soi. One of the Seiryuu no…"

Gahhh!!! "Well…well, my family! My family can’t be part of this, right?"

He shrugged. "Younger sister Kourin, older brother Rokou? Sure. Miaka says they look just the same as before."

"NO WAY!!!!!"

He chuckled. "Strange, yes. But like I said, destiny has woven the threads of our lives together."

"Mrs. MacPherson, my piano teacher when I was eight years old," I challenged.

"The Empress of Sairou," he said with a straight face. I gaped like a fish, and he lowered his head and smiled. "That was a joke."

I burst into relieved giggles. "Hehe, Hotohori-ssss…S…Saihitei…" Or what?? God, which one do I use: the one I met him as, or the one that insists on coming naturally?? "Ahhhhhhummmmm….tell me about…the other seishi. Miaka’s seishi."

So he did, and I learned that Doukun used to be some kid named Chiriko who was really smart and had died really young (which would explain why Miaka had been so excited to see him older, I guess). Myojuan had been Mitsukake, a doctor with special healing powers.

"A doctor, huh?" I said. "Well, that fits; he’s pre-med!"

Gen-chan was Tasuki, the leader of a group of bandits, which I thought was fitting, and made me reconsider my earlier feelings concerning the likeliness of him being a seishi. I guess you couldn’t really choose if you were born with Warrior Potential, and you had to do what you had to do, no matter who you were. And Houjun had been Chichiri, a traveling monk.

"A monk, huh?" I said. "That’s a nice conglomeration we had in this group of seven. A monk, a bandit, an Einstein, a doctor, and the Emperor of Konan. And Tama-cheeeehhhhhhhh, Taka. And me. What was I, anyway?"

"You were a member of the Imperial Hhhhhhhhhhheehehhecchhhh!" Saihitei’s eyes suddenly popped open, and he was seized by a violent hacking fit.

I pushed my glass of water over to him, alarmed. "Are you all right??!!" My God, don’t die!!! I’ll NEVER find another boyfriend!!

"F-fine…" he squeaked, eyes watering. "Sorry…"

Phew!! "That’s okay. So what was I?"

"Um." His iced tea suddenly seemed to fascinate him to no end. "A member of the Imperial…the Imperial…Hhhhhorse-training division."

I blinked. "Horse-trainer? Really?"

"Mm," he confirmed forcedly, nodding, and immersed himself in selecting the perfect breadstick for his own personal consumption.

Somethin fishy here. I narrowed my eyes a bit. "What was I really?"

He looked up, all innocence. "What? I just told you. Would I lie to you?" His voice just happened to crack on the word "lie," which pretty much gave the game away.

"What was I really?" I demanded. And how come you don’t wanna tell me?!

"Is that the waitress with our meals?? I hope she…"

"Saihitei."

He sighed. "I’d rather not tell you."

"Why not?!"

"I’d just rather not."

"Saihitei, please tell me. How bad could it be?" Don’t try to answer that. Don’t…even…TRY.

He looked at me long and hard; in fact, if he’d have looked at me any longer or harder, I probably would’ve forgotten the question, since piles of goo don’t seem to have the capacity for memory. But eventually, he relaxed, clasped his hands on the table in front of him, and said calmly, "You were a member of the Imperial Harem."

"I was WHAT???!!!" I exclaimed. "I…but…I thought only women did that!!! Was I a woman??!!"

"No," said Saihitei, trying to maintain his placid demeanor. "You were a cross-dresser."

"I was a WHAT????!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Don’t be upset. It doesn’t change anything." Trying to ignore the fifty-plus bug-eyed restaurant patrons who were now staring at us. I was getting a lot of that lately. "It was just a slight identity issue. You began dressing as a man again soon after Miaka arrived."

"Wh…WHY???!!"

"Your sister died when you were very young," he explained patiently. "She was killed before your eyes. The two of you had been very close, so you decided to keep her memory alive by becoming her."

I stared. "A bit over the top, wasn’t it?!!"

He shrugged. "You were loyal. The most selfless and loyal person I knew. You had this…intense sense of love and friendship…which makes me even more ashamed that I couldn’t tell you how much I…" He trailed off. "…I had the feeling it got to you. You loved so fiercely, and yet none of that love was really returned to you openly, for one reason or another. But, Nuriko…believe me when I say this. Anyone who ever met you would have been a fool if they didn’t love you."

Then came the ache in my heart, like I was going to cry without knowing why…and the burning on my left breast, right under my collarbone… I didn’t know if that was my heart, too, or…or…

"Perhaps this wasn’t the best place to discuss this," said Saihitei, a concerned look blooming on his face. "Nuriko…Ryuuen…don’t cry. Please don’t cry."

"I’m not crying," I croaked.

And the feeling… Alone in my room, my ancient room, crying in the corner because I loved people too much, and I couldn’t stop…

Saihitei reached across the table and covered my hand with his own. At first I was shocked, thinking that people would stare and be all sneery, but then I realized—although somewhat bitterly—that I probably looked girly enough so that no one would notice.

"I’m here now," he said firmly. "I’m here now, and I love you. And that’s all that matters."

I lowered my eyes, smiling, my chest swelling almost to the point of being painful.

"Now," he clicked good-naturedly, "if we could only do something about that blushing problem of yours…"

It was a mutual and unspoken decision not to discuss The Book any more that night, and though it still tugged at me, I think it was good to let it go for a while. Despite my pressing everyone to tell me all about it, it was a lot to deal with, and the cross-dressing thing had been…well…a good place to stop for a while. Saihitei paid for dinner despite my desperate protests—yes, it was a perfectly normal part of going on a date, but still…it was weird, weird, weird—and we went to see ‘Thirteen Ghosts’ at the movie theater that Houjun and I’d been unable to access earlier. And halfway through the movie, he held my hand!!!! And no one can see you blush in the dark, so it was all good.

When he drove me back to my dorm, I expected that he’d just drop me off and be on his merry way…but he parked, and walked me to the door, and said, "I just thought I’d warn you…I’m going to kiss you now. So no laughing. No ducking out to brush your teeth. All right?"

Blinking gracefully down at me—the guy even BLINKS gracefully!!—he moved in for the kiss…I closed my eyes and waited…and…

~*~

Usually, on a Saturday morning, it is the habit of college students to sleep as late as is humanly possible. This was fully my intention, especially because I slept better after that First Normal Kiss than I’d slept for about a month. However. Some other people, who happened to be staying across the street, had somewhat different plans for my morning.

As the annoying, shrill sound pierced through my state of complete relaxation, I groaned and tried to convince myself that it couldn’t be the phone. No one would call me at ten in the morning on a Saturday. No one who didn’t want me to punch them into a wall, or something. But it was the freakin phone, and it wouldn’t shut up.

But it wasn’t Chuin. It was Miaka.

"Ryuu-chan! Wake up! Wake up!!"

"Miaka," I said hoarsely, rubbing my forehead. "It’s Saturday morning."

"Don’t be so crabby! You have to come over right away! It’s important! Houjun just went for a walk and Keisuke’s gonna be here in about three minutes and Saihitei’s already here and it’s important!"

"Okay, okay…Do I have time to brush my teeth and…"

"NO!!! Just grab some gum or something… I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Ryuu-chan, but I dunno when Houjun is coming back, and Taka doesn’t want him to know about it yet…"

"Right, right," I yawned. "Okay. I’ll be over in two minutes."

By the time I’d thrown on a sweatshirt over my pajama bottoms and stuffed a baseball cap on my head and hustled (bleary-eyed) across the street, Keisuke’s car was already parked rather haphazardly in front of the apartment. I’d barely knocked on Taka’s door when it was flung open and I was dragged urgently inside.

"Jeez!" I exclaimed. "It’s like we’re doing a drug deal, or something. ‘Hey, man!! Keisuke’s got the goods! Shhh, keep it on the low down!’"

"Nice to see ya, Ryuuen," said Keisuke, waving; he would have said more in the way of greeting, but Miaka chose that moment to jump on him.

"WELL????? Show us! Show us!!"

"All right!!!" he exclaimed, trying to push her away. "Nice to know that this thing is more important than saying hello to your old friends." But he reached into a long box at his side, and drew out an equally long object, wrapped in a piece of red cloth. Taka, Saihitei, Miaka and I gathered around in a circle, wide-eyed and breathless, as he slowly unwrapped it to reveal...

…A large, shining, very familiar-looking metal fan.

TBC…

Notes: Bwah hah. ^_^ Twist, anyone? Kinda? Maybe? **shrugs** I gotta say, I’m sorry for the absence of Tasuki in these past few chapters! He’s my second fave, and I miss him. He’s so much fun. ^_^ But he’s coming back in the next chapter! So maybe that’ll be fun. ^_^ Or "interesting," at least, perhaps. ^_^

ANOTHER STORY AKUGI!!!! -_-()

Saihitei: I just thought I’d warn you…I’m going to kiss you now. So no laughing. No ducking out to brush your teeth. All right?

Ryuuen: How about sneezing?

Saihitei: No.

Ryuueh: Karaoke?

Saihitei: No.

Ryuuen: Playing frisbee?

Saihitei: NO.

Ryuuen: Irish dancing?

Saihitei: …That’s just stupid.

Ryuuen: I thought you loved me.

Saihitei: Not if you’re gonna freakin Irish dance when I’m trying to kiss you.

Ryuuen: Fine. I’m leaving you for Mitsukake.

~.^;;

(Holy cow, where the heck did that come from??? Little too much sugar today… ^_~ )